help with picky eater?

Question

my son is 18 months old and won't eat anything but chicken, he has been on the chicken kick for a few months now, i try to get him to eat anything else but unless its chicken or watermelon he won't even put it in his mouth. I know kids go through these phases but any ideas to speed it up would be helpful

Answer 1

Or you could just let him eat the chicken!

I have two picky eaters, one is almost 3, the other is 8. They are both healthy, well-adjsuted kids, who just don't like to eat food. If you make it a big deal, then it will become a big deal and they may deveop eating issues. With my first child I worried was he getting enough calcium, enough veggies, enough potassium. I'm not saying don't worry, because we all need to eat better. But I am saying, take the field of dreams approach. If you fix it, they will come. Fix the kid a meal that you feel comfortable with. Put it in front of him. If he wants it, he'll eat it, if he doesn't he won't. But that's his choice. It's never too early to learn that our choices have consequences. The consequence, he'll be hungry. I can guarantee you he won't starve though. A) you won't let him; and b) he won't let him! THe next time you put a meal in front of him, chicken or not, he'll eat it. Or maybe not the second time, but by the third meal, he'll get the point, and be happy to eat.

BUt don't plead with him, don't coerce, heck with kids you sometimes can't even make eye contact. Just calmly put the meal down, said this is what we have, eat it or not. ANd eventually, he will. Yes, even at 18 months. I figured this out halfway through the first child and it has worked like a charm for the second one!

Answer 2

Serve other food first. Bribery might work "take one bite of noodles and you can have your watermelon" then follow through. This is called a food jag, and it is very common. My son did it with hot dogs. All you can really do is keep offering other food and encourage him to taste each thing on his plate. Make sure food looks attractive and is a good temp. He'll come around.

You could also try serving the chicken in new ways like chicken and noodles, chicken and rice, chicken salad, etc. Then show him that this is new chicken. Call it something cool like Diego Dumplings or some other favorite character or toy food.

Good luck!!

Answer 3

If at 1st you don't succeed.....my daughter lived on cheese for years...now she is a healthy 8 year old. It seemed like she would never eat, and was almost embarrassing when we would go places with people and their kids would eat all these healthy foods and all my daughter would eat is cheese. One day something clicked and she started trying things and her eating habits just turned around. She doesn't sit down and gobble down green beans and cauliflower all day, but she does a whole lot better than she used to. Keep offering different things, maybe the same few things over and over, it will eventually pay off. good luck...

Answer 4

Don't worry about it. Soon he will grow tired of
chicken and want something new. My daughter
would not touch anything sweet for almost 3 years.
I was finally able to get her to eat some applesauce. Meat and fruit is okay for now. The more you push the worse he'll resist and food should not be a battle. Later on you could try reverse psychology on him when he is older.
Tell him he can't have it until he is 4 or 5 or one age older than he is. He'll want it trust me.

Answer 5

My children aren't "picky" eaters yet. However, they are underweight.. So, I've been "hiding" good foods into their everyday foods to up the calories and get the good things in their diets... If you are worried about nutrition start your toddler on multivitamin... My older son takes a children's multivitamin and my little one drinks CARNATION INSTANT BREAKFAST with a banana thrown in the blender w/ ice... They both love it and I make it with whole milk since they are on the tiny side... I also sneak things into their everyday foods.. They LOVE mac n cheese so I'll often add vegtable puree's to it. I have leftover babyfood so I just throw a jar or two in the noodles/sauce.. They eat it up and have no idea they also ate (butternut squash, or chicken n rice) I tasted it and it wasn't bad.. I also will add purees to spagetti sauces and other dishes/stews.. Just to get it in... I make tuna salad and you could do this with chicken salad as well... I add grated carrot, zucchini, and onion as well as chopped finely celery and sweet relish.. I add some mayo and a bit of sour cream... Put on whole wheat bread... They love it.... Maybe try some vegatable and dip.. Have your toddler dip the veggies in ranch dip kids love to play with their food... However, I wouldn't panic if he just wants chicken it could be worse !

Answer 6

Yes but consider that most people in the world don't have near the variety as the western nations you probably eat a larger variety of foods than most of the people in the world. You may be allergic to some of the foods you don't care for or have a bad memory of how they were prepared the first time you ate them.

Answer 7

I would not give in to him wanting chicken, he will have to eat something try potatoes but tell him there is no chicken.

Answer 8

mix up the chicken with other stuff, vegies, cheese and bread pieces. just make sure it looks mostly like chicken so you can try to fool him into eating it!! make it look so delicious when you eat it yourself he will want to eat it. if he refuses then don't make him eat, he will get so hungry he'll eat whatever you put in front of him.

Answer 9

My son will only eat certain foods also. I was once told to keep putting other healthy foods before him anyways, that it may take a child up to 20 times seeing a certain food before they will try it. Keep trying to introduce him to other foods and give him a liquid vitamin to supplement his diet.

Answer 10

why dont you try to put other things WITH the chicken? like chicken and rice or chicken and vegetables. put them together in the same dish.